Friday, May 25, 2007

JMO4Rep Update - Legislative Session Wrap Up 2007

Friends, Constituents, and Allies:

This JMO4Rep Update will be longer than my norm as it is my annualLegislative Session Wrap Up for 2007. I'd like to thank the manyconstituents and allies who wrote or called me about a bill or an issuethis Legislative Session. I am disappointed that little happened thisSession to truly improve the quality of life for Missourians, but I dobelieve that worse things would have happened if justice advocates suchas myself had not been on the floor during the debates, raising keyquestions and trying to get the truth out through the media.

I recognize that you may find the information I am sharing discouragingor disturbing, yet I feel an obligation to tell it as I see it. We needtransparent and ethical government if we are going to tackle the manychallenges that lie before us as a society: global warming, affordableand high quality public education, healthcare for all, civil rights forthose who are denied needed protections, measures that lift workers outof poverty and create a safety net for those unable to earn an adequateliving through labor or savings, and so much more. As Bill Bradley says,"An administration bold enough to tell the truth will find an audienceready for bold solutions."

The 2008 elections offer us a wonderful opportunity to make some neededchanges. Please urge your friends near and far to truly engage in theelectoral process in 2008. Attend a candidate forum. Study candidates'track records and positions. Work for candidates you trust and support.I continue to feel honored to have the opportunity to serve the 59thMissouri House District and the State of Missouri. In the words of theSouth African freedom song: "We shall not give up the fight; we have onlystarted......"

Background Description of Legislative Session 2007

The Legislative Session began on Jan. 3 and ended on May 18. When I wasfirst sworn in as state representative in 2005, the Republicans held 97of 163 Missouri House seats. In the 2006 elections, the Democrats had anet gain of five seats, to trail the Republicans 92-71 in seats. Therewere slight drops in the numbers of women and People of Color in theLegislature following the 2006 elections.

Very little happened during the month of January as Speaker of the HouseRod Jetton (R-Marble Hill) tinkered with the committee structure in waysthat gave the Democrats less proportional representation on committeesthan we hold in the House overall, which became a point of muchcontention as you might imagine. Jetton also eliminated some committees,while adding many others and declaring these "Special Committees" insteadof "Standing Committees." The Speaker was entitled by rules to controlmembership on the Special Committees, undercutting the minority caucusfloor leader's traditional power to influence which minority caucusmembers served on which committees. Many of Minority Floor Leader JeffHarris' suggestions were turned down, keeping legislators with neededexpertise from appropriate committee roles.

The increased number of committees provided new fundraising opportunitiesfor the majority party. Special interests have long contributed heavilyto the campaigns of chairs and vice chairs of House and Senate committees(yes, when Democrats held the majority too I'm sad to say). One GOPcommittee chair disclosed in 2005 that $300,000 had been raised forRepublican campaigns in Missouri through that one chairmanship. The rumorthis year was that GOP members who wanted to chair committees had tocommit to raising at least $20,000 for the party.

I continue to be very troubled by the power of money in politics and tolook for meaningful forms of campaign finance reform. Some say campaigncontributions are a form of free speech and must be protected, but I saythat campaign contributions are a megaphone, giving a much louder voiceto some than to others. In a healthy society, diverse voices must beheard and appropriate responses made, especially to our neighbors who aresuffering. Hearing only the voices of the super-wealthy is dangerous tothe common good.

If I counted correctly, less than 140 of the approximately 2000 billsintroduced in the MO House and Senate were passed this year. Thatincludes more than a dozen budget bills that had to be passed by theFriday before adjournment to meet the requirements in the MOConstitution. Gov. Blunt may not sign each one of these bills to makethem law, but most will be signed. A list of all bills that were Trulyand Finally Passed is available at:http://www.house.mo.gov/default.aspx?info=/bills071/rpt/truagree.htm

The Budget

I voted no on all the budget bills except House Bill (HB) 1 (publicdebt), HB 8 (which included the next phase of a multi-part raise for thehighway patrol and new staff for veterans' homes), and HB 13 (leasing).

I believe Missouri is making an inadequate investment in key areas likeelementary and secondary education, higher education, health, mentalhealth, and social services, and that this actually harms the businessclimate in our state. Quality of life issues highly impact on wherebusinesses choose to locate (more than tax rates do according to avariety of sources), so the lack of investment may be damaging oureconomy. Inadequate investment in the common good definitely makes ourcommunities less safe, less healthy, and less stable. For example, withinadequate community mental health services available, many troubledpersons self-medicate with illegal drugs, leading to high crime rates andviolence within families. The costs in terms of human suffering,incarceration expenses, and lost productivity is very high in Missouri.

In addition to my concern about inadequate investment, some billscontained items that I believed were corporate welfare or otherwiseunethical line items. For example, HB 6 (the Agriculture bill) containedodor abatement funds for corporate hog farms. I believe those whofinancially profit from such farms have the responsibility to clean upenvironmental hazards and odor problems instead of asking the taxpayersto do so.

In the budget debate, it became clear that there was adequate money inthe budget to restore healthcare to the 170,000+ who had lost coveragesince 2005, but the GOP majority voted down all amendments that tried todo so. This was a big disappointment. Since inadequate funds had beencited as the reason the Medicaid cuts were "necessary," many of usthought healthcare would be restored to at least some of our neighbors.

However, Gov. Blunt insisted on retaining a $200 million "surplus"instead of restoring healthcare or investing in other places in the statebudget where there are profound needs. (Surplus is not an accurate wordwhen the funds in question have resulted from inadequate investment inbasic human needs.) In addition, we have lost over a million dollars infederal matching funds since 2005 by not investing in healthcare.

Although viewed by all involved as the top issue of the year, Houseleadership did not set up debate on the Medicaid reform bill, Senate Bill(SB)577, until the very end. Three hours of timed debate was allowed onMay 11. The bill's final version was negotiated in secret during thesession's final hours and rammed through with one-hour of debate just 40minutes before the Legislature's 6 p.m. constitutional deadline foradjournment. House Speaker Jetton put the Senate on notice that the Housewould not pass the Medicaid bill until they passed two controversialmeasures that had already cleared the House (unfortunately).One of these controversial bills was HB 1055 which puts greater stress onschool districts opting to follow the federal "Abstinence Only" programwhen offering sex education (a program proven to be ineffective). It alsomay mean that access to safe and legal abortions is limited to only oneof the three Missouri sites that had been providing them.

The other controversial measure was House Joint Resolution (HJR) 7, aproposed constitutional amendment which will be put on the ballot of theNovember 2008 election. If approved by voters, English would be requiredas the language for all "official proceedings" in Missouri, that is,those public meetings covered by the Sunshine Law.

The sponsor of HJR 7, Rep. Brian Nieves of Franklin County, admits thatno such public meeting in Missouri has ever been held in any languageexcept English, but he still is insistent that this should become part ofthe Missouri Constitution. A variety of immigrant advocacy organizationsare now asking Rep. Nieves to change his name to Rep. Snow (since Nievesis Spanish for snow). The mayor of Nashville, TN, recently vetoed anEnglish only proposal in that city and in doing so said such legislationwould make Nashville a "less safe, less friendly, and less successfulcity." Hopefully Gov. Blunt will have similar wisdom about HJR 7 which isa thinly disguised bone thrown to bring out "the bigot vote" in the 2008general election.

Debate on HB 1055 and HJR 7 was shut down in the Senate by use of thecontroversial procedural move called "moving the previous question,"nicknamed "PQ." Only after both passed in the Senate did House leadershipcall for a vote on SB 577, the healthcare bill. All Republicans voted Ayeon SB 577. All Democrats except one (who has voted fairly consistentlywith Republicans throughout the year) voted No on SB 577.

I dedicated my no vote on SB 577 to two of my friends who have been hurtterribly by changes in Medicaid that were passed by the majority party in2005. Only a few thousand of the 170,000+ Missourians who have lostMedicaid coverage or had services cut since 2005 had their healthcarerestored by SB 577 which is why many of us call it "No HealthNet" insteadof Gov. Blunt's name for it: "MO HealthNet."

Who is restored? SB 577 restores small numbers of workers with adisability and some children in the SCHIP program. It allows about 1000youth aging out of foster care to be insured by Medicaid until they are21, and it provides limited women's health services to uninsured womenwith incomes under 185% of FPL. (For example, women may have cancerscreenings, but if you're under 35 you can't have treatment if cancer isdiscovered.)

"SB577 makes a lot of promises. It promises a focus on prevention andbest practice. It instructs various groups to undertake a number ofstudies and creates several powerful oversight committees. It requiresplans to raise provider reimbursement rates and plans to financiallysustain Medicaid. SB577 also restores dental and vision services, butonly is they are medically necessary AND if funds are appropriated forthem. These restorations could well be empty promises.

"The things that are left out are perhaps more important than what is inthe bill. Along with the tens of thousands of workers with a disabilityand children who will not benefit from the limited restorations, SB577leaves the very poor working parents who lost eligibility in 2005 out inthe cold. Nor does it help the tens of thousands of people with adisability and elderly who pay large amounts for a monthly premium to"spend down" their incomes to be eligible. Critical rehabilitationservices and therapies are notably missing."

Other Harmful Legislation That Passed

The Legislature also voted to sell a significant portion of the MissouriHigher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) to pay for campus construction.The plan places in jeopardy MOHELA's ability to fulfill its mission ofproviding low-cost student loans and offering loan forgiveness.

Several unwise policy decisions were made regarding taxation. SpeakerJetton proposed exempting all Social Security income from state incometax through HB 444, which may sound like a good idea on the surface, butin truth, lower income seniors already pay no income taxes on theirSocial Security. Almost all of the benefit of Jetton's plan would havegone to higher income seniors. Other retirement income exemptions werepiled on to HB 444 until the fiscal note to the state was over $300million of lost revenue. I argued on the floor, in interviews withreporters, and through letters to the editor that sound tax policy basestax rates on the amount of income, not the type of income. In the end acompromise was negotiated on the Senate side that caps income levels atwhich exemptions will be given. This cut the cost somewhat, especiallybefore fully phased in, but the tax principle involved is still unsound.

A huge mishmash of tax credits passed as an "omnibus economic developmentpackage." Several of the tax credits in HB 327 strike me as unwise orunneeded, and one looks to be a sweetheart deal for a land speculator.The distressed areas land assemblage tax credit would offer $12 millionper year for eight years to a developer who manages to assemble 75-100acres of property in areas with high poverty rates. One St. Louis areadeveloper that stands to benefit has given over $100,000 to the campaigncommittees of the governor, lieutenant governor, and key House and Senateleaders since the beginning of the year. Because of this, HB 327 did notpass my "sniff test," so I spoke against it on the floor and voted no.The bill passed anyway, and I encourage you to ask the governor to vetoit.

Missouri may become the hail-damaged vehicle capital of the nation ifGov. Blunt signs SB 82, the salvage title bill. Consumer protectionadvocate Rep. John Burnett of Kansas City borrowed from the title of apopular children's book to proclaim SB 82 "a terrible, horrible, no good,very bad bill." Unfortunately it passed 99-59 in the House to be TrulyAgreed and Finally Passed.

I fought alongside many allies to prevent gutting of the new minimum wagelaw that 76% of Missouri voters approved in November. We were successfulin keeping raises for tipped employees and cost of living adjustments inthe law. Unfortunately a bill to fix a problem related to overtime payfor police and firefighters was withdrawn during debate. Manymunicipalities say that overtime costs may bankrupt them.

I was proud to vote yes on HB 583 sponsored by Rep. Connie "LaJoyce"Johnson of St. Louis City. This makes improvements to a number of lawsaffecting victims of sexual and domestic violence, including offeringdomestic violence victims a way to keep their addresses confidential.Some progress was made on on fire safety in nursing homes, as prompted bya fire at the Anderson Guest House in Joplin that killed 11 people a fewmonths ago. More remains to be done, and it is not a simple problem tosolve. Fewer than 40 percent of the residential care facilities thatcurrently do not have sprinkler will be required to do so through HB 952.Yet many administrators of exempted nursing homes say they cannot affordto make the needed changes due to low rates of reimbursement for carefrom state and federal government.

I served as the ranking minority member on the Special Committee onEnergy and Environment this year, and I was pleased that some modestgains were made on environmental issues. (I was also pleased that somebills that could harm the environment did not pass.) SB 54 makes itpossible for retail electrical suppliers to make "net metering" availableto customers. This should encourage homeowners to invest in solar andwind power generation. Renewable energy targets were also set in thebill. I would have preferred mandates, given the threats posed by globalwarming, but the business community in Missouri strongly resists anymandated requirements and thusfar has been able to control any movementtoward this in the Capitol.

Good Ideas That Didn't Pass

I had many good ideas that deserved debate in 2007, but House Speaker RodJetton refused to assign even one of my bills to committee. You can seethe full list of bills I sponsored or co-sponsored athttp://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/spon/spn059.htm.

Among bills that did not pass that I wish had:

- comprehensive safe schools legislation to prevent bullying;- the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act - the number of co-sponsors doescontinue to rise - 59 in the House and Senate this year;- updating the income eligibility guidelines for subsidized child carefor low-wage workers (we were at about 150% in 1991 but fell to 50th inthe nation since then) ----even though my bill and other bills on thisdid not pass, the Department of Social Services did raise the guidelinefrom about 110% of the federal poverty level to almost 130%, and Ibelieve my advocacy on this has made a difference;- caseload standards for social service, health, and mental health jobsworking with vulnerable children, persons with disabilities, and elders;- individual income tax reform to create a system that would be fair,adequate, and sustainable (write me at this address if you would likedetails on how such a bill would work);- House Concurrent Resolution 55 which detailed problems with the NoChild Left Behind law during this year when Congress will be debatingreauthorization; and- a percentage of income utility payment plan to reduce transcience inSt. Louis Public Schools (three out of 10 SLPS students will be homelessduring some portion of each school year)

There were so many more that deserved discussion. I'm hoping for a morebi-partisan and productive 2008!

Good News From the 59th: On Saturday, April 28, St. Elizabeth Academymusicians participated in the Music in the Parks National Music Festivalat Six Flags in St. Louis. Nineteen other schools representing ninestates participated in this nationally adjudicated musical competition.St. Elizabeth Academy's high school women's choir placed first with anexcellent rating. Their high school jazz ensemble placed second with anexcellent rating. And the girls' high school full orchestra placed firstwith and excellent rating and earned a trophy for overall OutstandingHigh School Orchestra. Senior Thrissa Skala received the Solo CitationAward for her drum performance. Congratulations to all.

Sad News for All of St. Louis: Marti Frumhoff passed away at her home inTower Grove South on May 16 at the age of 50. Marti was probably bestknown as the founder of the Rehabbers' Club, but was a part of so manypositive efforts to build a united and revitalized city. She agreed topose with me for campaign advertisement photos during my 2004 campaignand tried to help me any time I called her. My condolences go to herfamily and friends. My thanks go to her friends who found homes for herdogs and cats, a kindness that Marti would really appreciate given herlove for animals. Much information about Marti can be found through thelinks at: http://joefrank.blogspot.com/

Volunteers Needed: Dutchtown South Community Corporation is seekingvolunteers to help with the Vector Control Program on Tuesday, June 12,2007 (morning and evening times will be available). Mosquito poisonpackets will be dropped in sewers around the Dutchtown neighborhood. TheVector Control Program is sponsored by AmeriCorps. If you would like tovolunteer or would like more information please call DSCC at314-352-4865.